...is 200k miles old!
16 years since she left the production line (and the last 4 years in my care), and she still looks great on our roads. Some bodywork/rust challenges to sort, but what a machine...
Long live the M54B30!!

After many weeks, mainly due to the DVLA dragging their heels to correct theur mistake, the 540 finally becomes mine. It's bloody awesome, its immaculate, it looks the mutt's nuts and it's mine! Gave it a rinse and drove it around, just to get used to it! More later, and a few questions from me no doubt.

April is bowel cancer awareness month. This post is simply to help educate and raise awareness about one of the most common cancers but also possibly one of the least talked about and deadly - its the second most common cancer killer but can be treated with great rates of success if picked up early.
Reason for posting is personal, ive been battling it for the last 18 months and if there's even a chance I can persuade someone to get checked out earlier and give them a better chance of survival then sharing my story here is worth it. I'm lucky to have got this far because although i had a couple of symptoms I explained them away to myself. As a healthy half-marathon running 40 year old why would I think different right? Well by the time i went to my GP with 3/5 symptoms it had spread to my liver and later my lungs and bits. Survival is a constant cycle of chemo and rest right now, I dont recommend it, but the alternative when it comes (and there is no question, it is incurable this late on) is obviously far less desirable.
So please just have a quick look at this stuff, only takes a few seconds, and take a minute to think about whether you have any of the symptoms or if you're old enough qualify for the easy home screening kits-its rare in young people but incidence rates are growing frighteningly quick.
SuperDave
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bowel-cancer/symptoms/

was lucky and found a set of rare M6 Competition Pack wheels for a good deal on Fleabay
CP wheels were half an inch wider front and rear and look great on my humble opinion!
hope everyone on here is well!!!!

Long time since an update so here goes. Car has been fired and up to temp with no problems boot floor has been modified for the modified Hayward and Scott exhausts and sound amazing. Brakes all fitted with new braided lines. First in the uk heated sport steering wheel. Interior started to go back in. Installed a thatcham 2 immobiliser while I had dash out and found a neat place for it to hide. Also installed the electric steering column I’ve had a few years lol. Also got some alcantara covered seat bases

Well it ran on a brand new V Tech dyno, notorious for being harsh with it's power figures! Inlet temps were very high but it pulled just shy of 465BHP and 910Nm. Ambient temp was 29 degrees and about 45 at the intake. It would run a little more on a cooler day. There's more to find in there somewhere. I'm pleased with what it makes but if I can get it into the 480-490 territory I will be happy.

Just ticked over the 100k mark.
Bought in 2006 with around 33k on the clock. Thought about selling it many times as I hardly use it BUT cannot bring myself to do it. What would I buy to replace a car that has never missed a beat in 12 years and that I still enjoy driving as much as the day I picked it up from BMW Vines at Crawley for £23,000 more than a decade ago?
Upgraded a few things over the years (TV and satnav) but it is pretty much as it left the factory. It still has an original Motorola phone, glove box torch and 1st Aid kit!
Thanks to my gentle driving (most of the time!) it is still happily running on its original clutch and suspension and I have had no major mechanical issues. (Sod's law something will happen now!)
The biggest expense over the years has been having the wheels refurbished at Lepsons (x3) as I am a bit of an anorak on that front. Got to have perfect wheels!
Bodywork not so perfect but pretty good with no rust other than a few bubbles in the petrol filling area and they were there in 2006 and have not worsened over the years.
Fixed the traditional missing dashboard pixel and dodgy rear view mirror issues and replaced quite a few suspension bushes, roll bars, hoses, MAFs, but nothing major.
And thanks to people on this forum I learned recently that my M5 is unique - the only right hand drive individual black sapphire metallic car exported to the UK.
Anyway, here's to the next 100k....or will I sell it now we have passed such a landmark mileage? Hmmm
A couple of pix if anyone is remotely interested.....!

Can't believe it's virtually 4yrs since I bought this car and for something that cost under £2k back then it's given service of a car costing 10x more. We had decided to change it this month as the loadspace and interior size is no longer essential to us... but I test drove a non-premium car 10yrs newer and it was so unrefined we have decided to keep the E39 another year.
I keep full records and thought the work needed to keep it in top condition might be of interest.
You can take it as read it's had an oil/filter change each year with the other filters changed according to mileage.
On top of that it needed no further work than above in 2015.
During 2016 it needed a pair of rear tyres and I kept to matching Dunlops. I replaced a cracked foglamp with one from Ebay. Fitted new aux drivebelts and front brake pads. It failed its summer 2016 MOT on rear brake effort so I fitted new rear discs, pads and handbrake shoes to get it spot on... then passed with no advisories. On a whim I removed the EGR to clean and check it's operation then refitted.
In 2017 I fitted new front tyres, Dunlops again. I had to re-polish one headlamp as it had gone cloudy again. One rear suspension upper front top link had play so I replaced both. Also replaced one front wheel bearing. At the summer MOT when they did the test that raises the rear on its suspension the nearside rear airbag split so that was a fail. I replaced it with a new Arnott type and received a pass with no advisories. The final thing that year was the dealer driver's airbag recall which I had completed locally. Not great service from the main dealer but perhaps I was regarded as well down the pecking order with a 15yr old car?
One aspect that has kept me on my toes is the airbag lamp. Initially as mentioned above I had a problem passed on by the previous owner which turned out to be a high resistance on one of the driver airbag connections. Then carrying a load on the front seat temp shorted out the passenger sensor which reset OK. Then it threw up several passenger airbag codes which reset a couple of times but then stuck on. Eventually I sorted it late 2017. When the dealers replaced the driver's airbag under recall I asked them to diagnose the passenger code fault and they were useless. This prompted me to buy two £20-£25 Ebay airbag ECUs that closely matched the part numbers on my own (two as I thought the chance of getting one that worked first time was slim and I preferred to hit the job all in one). Both were U/S so returned for refund. I ordered and tested two more at similar prices... both perfect so fitted one and kept the other as a spare. The light hasn't come back in many months so I'm calling that a result.
Now in 2018 and having decided to run it another year I will replace the rear suspension lower links and rose joints. Also I'm putting a new Arnott suspension airbag on the o/s rear to match the one that I fitted after the original n/s burst last year. It's not leaking but we carry a hell of a holiday load and I'd hate that to go halfway to Cornwall.
Daft really that a 16yr old car worth peanuts can be totally rust free... have all gadgets working... and still be a refined load carrier.

Not the place for this kind of discussion IMO
If you're interested in the car, fine, ask away, if you're trying to pick holes, do it via PM or over in E39 tech chat/general chat etc...!
Each to their own when it comes to selling cars and prices. However, the OP started a useful thread re this and he's priced it on the back of that discussion...

My appointment was yesterday at ZF to get my Gearbox serviced. I have 155k on the F11 530D and with BMW dealer telling me that the Gearbox oil is for life and refusing to carry out a service. I read on other forums of people who travelled from UK to ZF in Dortmund to get the job done. I arrived at ZF @ 7.30 and went to reception and met Klaus Hennemann the guy who took the booking. He asked me if there were any issues i was facing with my gearbox and said that if they found anything they can repair it or if its really bad they can do an exchange for a brand new box one for 2k euros. They took it for a test drive and carried on with the work (took 3 hours)
On the forums, you have seen people taking pics etc and standing there while the work is carried out. But Klaus told me they had an incident a few months ago where a customer filmed the entire thing and put it on youtube and it caused some issues for ZF so now they stopped allowing customers in the garage and taking pics etc. I was disappointed as i would have loved to seen up close what they did but i can understand their point of view. But he said if we find a problem they would take me in and show me while its all open. they did the Oil drain including TC, changed oil and new pan. They also stripped the Mechatronic and cleaned that out and change parts. Klaus said that the gearbox was not too bad but good job i put fresh oil in. He said next change should be at 50k miles. He was pissed that all the manufacturers (BMW, LAnd rover, Jaguar etc) are saying its for life when ZF are saying no its not.
The gear changes are super smooth. The picture below is of the Gearbox of the one in most F10/F11 but 8 speed. He even stamped my service book. He said he has lots of people coming from the UK to have gearboxes repaired and serviced, i did suggest he speak to his managers and get a service centre opened up in the UK. Costs it was 24 quid for one way (50 return) on the euro tunnel, Service was 540 euros, the hotel was 30 pounds and me and the wife are chilling here until tomorrow so do make a weekend getaway then getting the car serviced dont seem too bad. So for someone who is wanting to keep their car forever and does a great deal of mileage then i do recommend this type of service from ZF. Who better to service and repair your gearbox then the manufacturer who made it.

So after our ‘ who runs older cars as dailys ‘ I thought I would share my sons …
He is 17 passed his test in October but wasnt really into the small euro box style cars that were about for younger drivers so he piled his savings into running his first car and had an Astra Sri X pack .. nice car, went well but still lacked the individual element as every other car on the road is an Astra so I had a Daytona Violet Compact 318Ti tucked away so after 6mths driving he was able to get it insured so now he is happy …or is he lol .. well he is but he is on the modifying path but give him his due he only like parts that are in keeping with the car .. no ricer junk !
So it went from 16” 5 spokes to a set of staggered M3 Evo Contours .. nice wheel but then he got a set of staggered BBS Rc 41/ 42s .. I think these look quite classy on it .
Next up was a M3 style front lip to the bumper .. it already had the mesh fitted so that just finished it off
Pair of bilsteins for the rear , new upgraded discs and pads too.
Has an AC Schnitzer exhaust with letterbox tail pipe fitted by Andy Everett, nice touch so that stays , nice sound too.
Going forward it has a few chips and a couple of bubbles on rear arch , this will all get done and the roof is getting painted along with a new sunroof seal for the summer shows ..some pics

Another job done on the old E34. Wheels look great after a refurbishment at The Wheel Specialist in Inverness.
Many people like bigger wheels on the E34 - and I have had 17s and 18s in the past - but these 15s with their fat tyres just suit this car I think.
New caps and badges at home waiting to go on.

I got away with it, running fine again now it was just a bit scary!
However I got another bang out of it today, we upped boost to 2.85bar to see if it would take that and fuelling. No valve float, and my god it screamed round to 4000rpm. At 4100 there was an enormous BANG. After regaining my composure I realised it was still running, no lights on, no apparent problems but wow it was loud.
Turns out I found the limit of the standard exhaust system. I blew the exhaust pipe off the downpipe.
Put it back on, made sure the clamp was very very tight, went out and tried again. Boom. Exhaust off.
Backbox removal next!

Fake keys hanging on the wall in a porch which is locked and isolated. 240v into keys, activated when both doors locked. Fish that bitches!
(Not done this, I don't recommend it, this is a joke, not real, Guardian reading snowflakes don't get offended pls, etc).

Picked up the A7 today, really good dealer experience they were a bit late with my appointment so bought me lunch @ the local eatery and put a full tank of diesel in it.
Really nice drive back up but i have noticed in the MMI (iDrive) that their is 3 keys programmed to the car, so I've sent him an email asking them to pay for all 3 deleting and the 2 i have re coding, call me cynical but the car was from Brum and it's rife round there.
Also had 2 calls about the 5 today, one missed call and one guy chomping @ the bit to come see it.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and comment, appreciated even though I totally ignored all the advice, I've always been a maverick...
Quick snap in the dealers...

Dropped my wife off at Three Bridges Station at 06:00 this morning to catch the London Marathon coach up to London. What a lovely morning, had to stop on the way back for a misty sunrise photo. Aircraft is a 787 of Norwegian on short finals to Gatwick.